Google is paying roughly 100 digital publishers through its AI contribution pilot, and for several small and midsize sites those payments amount to less than 0.1% of their advertising revenue, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the tests.

The spread in payouts is wide. Some smaller sites have earned less than $1,000 over several months, according to the report. One early participant is earning more than $1 million a year.

The figure of roughly 100 publishers marks the first confirmed count of sites actually being paid. When Digiday covered the pilot on Sept. 14, it could say only that at least dozens of publishers had been approached, and it could not confirm a total. The new number counts publishers receiving money.

Some of those participants told The Information they still don't know how their payments are calculated.

What participants are reportedly earning

The Information's payout figures come from different publishers over different stretches of time. A publisher that joined a few months ago has made about $50,000 to $60,000 so far, according to the report. That publisher said the amount doesn't represent much of its business.

Google started testing the program less than a year ago, a person close to the company told the outlet.

How payments are calculated is still unclear

Some participants said their payments can change from month to month without explanation.

Help text published by Digiday on Sept. 14 says content earns when it "contributes significantly" to AI-generated responses in the Gemini app, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Confirming facts or being linked after a response is generated doesn't qualify.

Participants see a monthly earnings figure with some history in Search Console, but no detail on how the figure was calculated. When Digiday compared the pilot with Cloudflare's and Microsoft's payment models on Sept. 18, the published record didn't define what "significantly" means.

Some publishers in the pilot also say content on topics that draw strong user interest but are less widely covered appears to earn more, according to the report. Anime and gaming are among the examples cited.

Larger publishers are holding out

The size of the payments has kept some larger publishers out of the pilot, The Information's sources said. Some are holding out in hopes of getting Google and other companies to pay more for content used by AI.

Digiday reported on Sept. 14 that the program had appealed more to small and mid-sized publishers than to large ones. In Digiday's Sept. 18 comparison, one executive said the numbers offered to their company and several peers were too low to opt in, and that talks with Google were ongoing.

Why the numbers matter

The reported payouts give the pilot a sense of scale that mid-September reporting lacked. Payments for several small and midsize sites came in below 0.1% of advertising revenue. That context frames the $1 million-a-year outlier without establishing a typical payout.

The report still doesn't explain how Google calculates individual payments.

The next signal to watch is transparency. If Google publishes what counts as a significant contribution, or adds that detail to the Search Console panel, invited sites would know what to expect before opting in. Google told Digiday in September that the pilot is at an early stage, without giving an expansion timeline. A participant count from Google, or publishers going on record with their payments, would let the market check the numbers against a named source.